Guardian Africa network + Economic policy | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/series/guardian-africa-network+politics/economy
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Africa: how to be an experthttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/12/africa-expert-celebrity-madonna
Pick a theme. Generalise. Network with celebrities and stay ideologically fashionable. Avoid complexity and above all, never consult the vast body of literature on the continent<p>&quot;Thinking Africa&quot; is complicated, normally requiring years of trawling through thousands of books on economics, history, social science, anthropology and politics. No mean task, but one luckily simplified lately by numerous self-styled &quot;Africa experts&quot;, political spin artists, sound-bite junkies, arriviste journos, think-tankers, policy wonkers, random bankers, distant academics, market honchos, corporate suits, public relations acolytes, and self-proclaimed politicians. </p><p>So, no need to take the hard road. New pathways exist in the eternal search for Africa's missing economic variables to explain the continent's volatile track record over time or if you prefer recent apparent good news and presumed macroeconomics, and why this will continue for 50 years or more ?</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/12/africa-expert-celebrity-madonna">Continue reading...</a>AfricaEconomic policyGlobal developmentAidMon, 12 Nov 2012 11:52:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/12/africa-expert-celebrity-madonnaAmos Gumulira/AFP/Getty ImagesMadonna with Malawi's education minister George Chaponda and the director of her Raising Malawi Academy for Girls in 2010. Photograph: Amos Gumulira/AFP/Getty ImagesAntony Njuguna/ReutersMadonna during her recent visit to Malawi. Photograph: Antony Njuguna/ReutersDuncan Clarke2012-11-12T11:52:00Z